Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves
by green.pepsi.cola
Summary: The Apuro siblings have one last chance of being fostered before they are sent to a detention center. Will this be the place to change it all? Not if they can help it. Have not the slightest idea where this may go, but romance is possible.
1. Sunset in Venice

(Disc.: As always, I don't own LoDt. I only own the original characters featured. They are based partially on friends and people I've known. I hope you are able to see yourself at least a little in one or more of the characters.)

**Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves**

_Chapter 1: Sunset in Venice_

The sun was setting. Five kids shuffled out of the van and up toward a dingy gray house. Not a care in the world, except for their own lives. Options left were limited. Five more kids the foster system had failed. They were all on the verge of being sent to a detention center, this was their last resort. The lowest of the low. This was the floor they could not fall below. This was the eerie calm just before the storm hit, the storm of juvenile delinquency. It would tear them apart and glue them back together, all in the same summer. The summer the five Apuro children (if you could call them that) arrived at the home (if you could call it that) of Skip Engblom, in Venice, California. Local-proclaimed 'Ghetto by the sea'. The peace shattered, scraping of wheels on cement, chattering of teens, joking, pushing, banter. All in the distance, fading away once more.

The siblings were greeted (sort of) by a skinny, tallish, average man of about 30. Shoulder length dirty blond hair, green eyes, cigarette dangling from lips, bottle of liquor clutched in left hand. The van drove off, rather quickly.

"What?" Came the half-drunken, half-stoned slur.

"What do you think?" The eldest Apuro spoke.

Arrow's black eyes pierced the other man's challengingly. The shoulder length black hair swayed in the breeze. Rather tall, not quite the tallest of the clan. His fierce hatred for the world in general slid casually from his words. The four others surrounded him. All ranging in various ages and heights, they backed him strongly.

"Oh. Right. Fosters or something. Well." He spoke in broken fragments.

"Well, are you just gonna stand there like an idiot and stare or what?" The youngest, Azure, a boy of only thirteen, spoke softly.

Short in stature, gentle in nature, with peaceful pale blue eyes and ordinary mouse-brown hair to about the ears. Barely a word escaped his lips as a general statement.

"I… no."

"Oh for heaven's sake, where the hell are we supposed to stay you drunken, stoned hippie?" The outspoken voice of 15 year old Lily cut through the air anxiously.

She brushed a strand of her angle-cut platinum hair out of her face, the piece dyed lime green. The dark brown orbs bored into the green eyes harshly, tired of funny business. Short, no taller than 4 feet, 10 inches, and scrawny all over, but packed full of energy, anger, and persuasion. Self proclaimed 'chica bonita'.

Well, that certainly broke the awkwardness of the moment. The man, proclaimed Skip, stepped aside and pointed toward a small room wordlessly, a single room at the back of the house.

"Oh I know we ain't all about to sleep in one room!" Kass shouted indignantly.

Sixteen years old, eyes the colour of fresh honey in the early summer months, about 6 feet tall, the tallest of the children, and very curvy. Waist length curly brunette hair with red highlights tumbled down her back in tangles, just the way she preferred it. The surrogate mother of the clan was about as girly as they came. Never one to get dirty without justifiable reason, she was as hot-tempered as her younger sister.

"Yup." Was the slurred answer.

The last child spoke not a word of the conditions. This was Carmen, the other of the free spirits, the two hippies; twin to Lily, she was athletic and lanky, preferring to run around with the boys of the neighborhood. Chin length black hair, vibrant blue highlights frightened most old people. Just the way she preferred them. 5'7 in frame, she was to become quickly swept into the skating craze. The caramel eyes were full of determinedness and fire. Known to avoid most social situations involving unknown strangers, she held her close-knit group of writing pals together, the everlasting glue.

"Let's just make the best of it, then. The lot of you, let's get moving. Go! Into the house! I want to establish sleeping arrangements. You did remember to put out mattresses, you insufferable git?" Kass turned to Skip sharply after pacing across the front porch. And with the final word from the mother of the pack, they all entered, single file, clutching their single stuffed suitcases.

And so begins the trek, the trek of five foster siblings into uncertainty of a new 'father', new living conditions, a new neighborhood, and a new batch of mischief.


	2. Trapped In A Purple Haze

Project: Little Terrors

(Disc.: As always, I don't own LoDt. I only own the original creations of my twisted mind. Please excuse the poor Spanish phrase, correct me if I am wrong.

A/N: I think this is just filler… I'm still deciding where I want to head with this piece. How was it?)

**Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves**

_Chapter 2: Trapped In a Purple Haze_

The Apuros were not granted social graces at early ages, as some people were. The little unconventional group of outcasts was better compared to a pack of wild dogs. Manners were atrocious, humility was scarce. Needless to say they were no more than a mass of thieves, hippies, and, for some of them, sexual tension.

No sooner were they settled, the Apuros set out alone to explore the city. Releasing the chaos on the unsuspecting city of Dogtown apparently was not an informed decision. But there was havoc to be wreaked, or so thought the small band.

Carmen set out toward the ocean, heading directly for Pacific Ocean Pier (which she had spotted upon arrival), Lily close by her side.

Arrow set out for downtown, to scout out jobs.

Azure set off toward the elementary under the vague directions of Skip, donated skateboard in hand, to blow off built up steam.

And last but certainly not least, Kass set off to search for the supermarket, for she got the idea that Skip had no idea what teenagers ate.

Carmen and Lily were the first to come upon trouble, in the form of a select few angry locals.

"Hey, you can't be here! Locals only! Get away, valley bitches!" One of them yelled rudely.

Lily balled her hands into fists, taking a step toward him.

"You wanna go?" She asked through gritted teeth.

Carmen grabbed her little sister's (by two minutes) arms like she always did when Lily's temper got the best of her.

"We_ are_ locals, you dim-witted sea rat." Carmen shot back smoothly, clearly enunciating her words in her oddly calm and quiet voice.

"And if you have a problem with that, I'll fight you." Lily added, almost shouting. Her voice, unlike her sister's, was rough and scratchy, her words guarded and haphazardly spat out.

The boy snorted, smirking.

"How come I ain't never seen ya before then, huh? How old are you anyway, seven?" He sneered, spitting on the ground for emphasis.

"Váyase a la mierda, grommet-ass. I'm fifteen. Don't mess with me, le mataré. I'm not kidding, I will." Lily retorted hot-headedly, spitting soundly at the boy's feet.

"Whatever, bitch. Just get off of our beach, and don't come back." Jay was saying as Skip appeared, surfboard under one arm.

"Jay, leave them alone, they're new here. You ain't supposed to be here either. This is… what're your names again?" Skip's mind went blank.

"Carmen and Lily, you idiot." Kass reminded him calmly.

"Oh. Right. Carmen and Lily. Jay, Tony, Sid, Wentzle. Guys, they're staying with me. They've got three sibs too. Girls, they're good guys once you get to know 'em." Skip attempted at peacemaker, failing horrifically.

"Yeah, whatever."

"See you idiots later." Lily and Carmen answered, respectively, walking toward the city.

Azure, however, was having considerably better luck. As soon as he reached the deserted elementary school, he dove right into skating uninterrupted. Three other kids showed up, two looked to be Asian, one white with curly reddish blond hair, but they didn't bother him. They skated contentedly, sometimes skating by him, sometimes silently rivaling his moves. They continued their silent competition peacefully, until little Azure skidded across the concrete on his stomach.

"Dude, are you alright? You took a nasty fall." The boy with the long dark hair and shining brown eyes asked, offering him a hand up.

"Yup. See this scar here?" He asked, pointing to his left elbow, "I got that from falling down stairs on my board. I'm Azure. I'm new here, just moved. I'm a foster kid. Who are you?" Azure, never quite the talker and surprising himself at this moment, asked innocently.

"I'm Shogo, and this is Peggy and Jim. We call him Red Dog, 'cause of his hair."

"And because he's a mutt." Peggy added in jokingly.

"Hey!" Red Dog whined as Peggy whizzed by him, with him not far behind her.

"He's got mega-hots for her…" Shogo grinned, gliding off after them.

As for job opportunities, Arrow wasn't making much progress. He'd been to seven places, most of them told him they had 'just filled the position', one blatantly told him he was too young. He was becoming impatient and was just about to give up when he stumbled across a small, beat up photography studio, about five doors down from Zephyr. His curiosity awakened, he wandered inside. There was a beat up, black front counter, and peering back, he could see farther back into the studio. Posters and bulletin boards filled with photos completely covered the walls. An industrial camera was set up far in the back. He could just barely see it, faintly make out dozens of stacked backdrops. There was a small dividing wall with a doorway cut into it off to the side. A deep reddish, orangey-purple sunset was painted on the wall, and he could tell it was done in airbrush by the smudged, fuzzy edges and by the way the colours seemingly blended effortlessly together.

A woman in about her mid-twenties stepped through the doorway, her sunset orange, pink tipped hair drawn up into a messy bun, wearing jeans and a button down blouse. Her thick-rimmed, rectangular black framed glasses subtly hid a scar above her carefully black-lined left eye, slightly camouflaged by the vibrant pink shadow she wore on her eyelids.

"How can I help you?" She asked uncertainly.

It occurred to Arrow what he must look like, an angry-looking boy with black shoulder length hair and unwelcoming black eyes, wearing a beat up pair of jeans and a plain black t-shirt. He hadn't brushed his hair for two days.

"Hello, I'm Arrow Apuro, and I was wondering if you were hiring photographers? I'm an amateur, and I know you're probably not hiring right now, but if you give me a chance, I can bring you some sample photos." He tried to sound as friendly as possible, spreading a small, non-threatening smile across his strong-jawed face.

"I'm Rena, and well, that depends on you. Would you like a job? Do you have time to take sample photos? A small portfolio of prints would be nice, I hear there's gonna be a surf contest soon; I could hook you up with my good friend Stecyk. Maybe he could take you on as an apprentice for a while… Can you come in tomorrow at twelve o'clock noon? That'd be great." Rena offered strongly, shaking his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Rena. I'll stop by tomorrow at noon and we can maybe get something together?" Arrow asked uncertainly, waiting to be painfully rejected in the back of his mind.

"Nice to meet you too, Arrow. I'll see you tomorrow, then." She turned around, went back into a developing room.

As Arrow headed toward Zephyr, an unusually huge smile spread across his face, his heart was racing. Faster and faster it pounded, until he felt as if he might explode. A professional photographer, a job in a photo studio… he turned the corner into the shop, and his smile tamed.

Kass had found the supermarket quite easily, and she walked around inside, scouting all of the aisles. They seemed busy, she thought, as a cart and it's shopper nearly missed treading over her toes. She made sure to check all of the aisles before departing back into the street. She remembered vaguely the way from which she had come, but not completely. After wandering in circles for nearly fifteen minutes, she stopped and asked the nearest person, who seemed to be a local who knew where he was going. She fell into step with the long-haired blonde boy who looked friendly enough. He stopped considerately, but seemed as if he were anxious to be somewhere.

"Excuse me, I don't mean to keep you, but could you possibly point me in the direction of Zephyr Surf Shop?" She asked, gazing up at the tall boy.

He was probably about six feet tall, maybe a bit more, and she found herself craning slightly.

"Hey yeah, sure. I'm going that way anyway. You new here?" He asked politely, smiling a bit.

"Yes, I'm Kass Apuro. I'm staying with Skip Engblom." She said matter-of-factly, following him through the close to deserted streets.

"Oh, really?" He seemed surprised at this, shocked even. "Never thought Skip would take in anyone…" He mused to himself, but remembering where he was, successfully recovered.

"I happen to be a good friend of Skip's. I'm… on a surf team that he started a few months ago. Stacy." He added.

Kass wondered if he'd simply forgotten to share his last name, or if he'd consciously withheld the information. No matter. They weaved up and down quite a few streets, into the seedier-looking side of town. He stopped in front of a good-sized row of buildings, businesses mostly, and moved toward one with a yellow awning.

"Skip, are you here? Delivery." He reminded her of the pizza guy. "See you 'round, gotta get to work… my car was just here." He said, climbing into a little square back car.

"See you… Stacy." She watched him pull away from the curb, humming to the tape he'd popped in. Driving Tunes, she could have sworn it had read.

She threw his name around in her head for a while, testing it, weighing it, getting used to the sound. She'd felt quite a bit awkward walking with him, but he was interesting enough. She entered the shop and gazed around at the variously-coloured surfboards lining the shelves. Arrow popped up from behind a rack, examining a black board with bright orange flame detail along the fin.

"What's up, 'lil sis?" He held a stupid grin on his face.

"Nothing. What's got you so happy?" She laughed slightly as he pulled another face, as if to say 'I'm loopy'.

"I just might have found myself a job." That was all she could get out of him as her sisters traipsed in, a tad bit wet from their little frolic along the shoreline, along with a small crowd of guys. Now the only one missing was Azure, and he soon arrived with yet another small gathering of people, two guys and a girl.

"Everyone sit down and shut up. You five -" And he gestured toward the siblings, who now stood scattered around the room - "up here." He motioned toward the counter of the store.

"I've got an announcement to make." Skip bellowed, swaying a bit.


End file.
